Who are you?
Dawson Lee Garcia is a 20-year-old 6'11" left-handed big man transferred from Marquette University where he played one season for the Golden Eagles averaging 13 ppg, 6.6 rpg.
Where are you from?
Garcia was born in Burnsville, MN which is about 20 minutes from U.S. Bank Stadium home of the 2019 Final Four. Garcia played his high school ball locally, at Prior Lake (Class 4A) and was AAU teammates with current Tar Heel marksman, Kerwin Walton.
Garcia surpassed the exclusive 2,000 point milestone and was a 2020 McDonald's All-American while averaging 32.3 ppg and 10 rpg as a senior. He was also one of five finalists for the Minnesota Mr. Basketball award, but lost out to former Gonzaga Bulldog Jalen Suggs.
What have you done?
Easily his best game of his college career came in the Dean E. Smith Center. During North Carolina's and Marquette's last minute scheduled game on February 24 Garcia dropped 24 points (five points short of a career-high). He also grabbed 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
With that performance, Garcia shouldn't have an issue fitting into Coach Hubert Davis' Carolina system. Garcia also started all 27 games for the Golden Eagles and earned a selection on the Big East All-Freshman team.
What do you bring to the team?
Besides 24/11 in his first game at Smith Center? Shooting (48% field goal, 35% three-point, 78% free-throw) and scoring (17 games of scoring 10 or more points.)
What's a fun fact about you?
Garcia is actually right-handed, but plays basketball as a lefty. He finishes better with his right. His biggest basketball advantage is being right-handed in life and being a left-handed shooter. At a young age his dad taught him to play basketball with his left hand.
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